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Friday, 13 April 2018

Let Them Feel The Full Force

The Prerogative Power of the Prime Minister to authorise military action unilaterally not only presupposed national self-defence rather than mere policy reasons, and those now as weak as "to send a message", but it never conceived of a Prime Minister who was sitting by her mobile phone waiting for the latest tweet from Donald Trump.

Indeed, even those of us who have always disagreed with it do nevertheless have to concede that the post-1945 acceptance of the foreign policy of the United States as the foreign policy of the United Kingdom was not framed, or hitherto implemented, with Trump in mind. Still, here we are. It is time to Take Back Control.

"If everything goes according to plan"? What plan? And when have these things ever gone according to even such plans are there have been? Diane Abbott ought to have come out and said directly that Labour would always oppose any British intervention in the Syrian Civil War. That is the position of the majority of the British public, and it is correct.

Spooky MPs, their spookiness by no means only ever British, need to be smoked out and flushed out. Indeed, there are arguably no British intelligence agencies, as such. They are only allowed to know what the Americans condescend to tell them. Their allegiance is invariably to whoever happens to be the President of the United States, even when that is Donald Trump.

Not very long ago, the Conservatives wanted to enshrine in law the requirement of the approval of the House of Commons before military action. But they never did it. So, having failed to do it, let them proceed with such action without that approval, and let them then feel the full force of parliamentary scrutiny.

The motion needs to be tabled: "This House regrets the British military intervention in Syria, and calls on Her Majesty's Government to cease and desist from it immediately." It needs to be tabled every week, not only until it passes, but until it is given full effect.